Palo Alto: Council schedules hearing on contested project

The Palo Alto City Council agreed Monday to schedule a public hearing on a proposed 180-unit housing project one resident says is unsafe.

According to an appeal filed by Fred Balin of College Terrace, the nearly 17-acre development at 1451-1601 California Ave. doesn't comply with the city's fire code, would put pedestrians and bicyclists at risk, and cause "potential gridlock" on Columbia Street.

Hillary Gitelman, the city's director of Planning and Community Environment, approved an application earlier this year to demolish 290,220 square feet of research and development and office space and construct 68 single-family and 112 multi-family homes.

The council voted 7-0 to hold the hearing on June 23, the same day it is slated to consider a tentative map for the project. Councilman Greg Scharff was absent and Councilman Larry Klein did not participate because of financial ties to Stanford University, which is behind the project.

The decision runs counter to a recommendation in a city staff report that the council deny Balin's appeal and uphold Gitelman's decision.

On Monday, Balin reiterated concerns he raised in his appeal, including the absence of areas for emergency vehicles to turn around on two dead-end streets more than 150 feet long. He said the turnarounds are required under state standards adopted by the council last year.

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"Requiring the applicant to follow the fire code is easy to do and costs nothing," Balin said.

According to the report, turnarounds aren't needed because firefighters can reach homes on the street with a hose. The report, which cited a letter from Palo Alto acting deputy chief and fire marshal Rich Dean, also rejected Balin's argument that the fire code requires Columbia and Amherst streets to be at least 26 feet wide because they have fire hydrants.

"This project has been thoroughly vetted by city staff," Chris Wuthmann, associate director of project construction and design at Stanford Real Estate, told the council. "It is responsive to all requirements established by the city and it complies with all applicable codes and ordinances."

Balin said he stood by his appeal, which included a project analysis by traffic and civil engineer Tom Brohard.

According to the appeal, the project is also unsafe because it would transform Columbia into the preferred route for residents who walk or bicycle to Stanford University or Escondido Elementary School. There are no stop signs or crosswalks where the street dead-ends at Stanford Avenue.

In addition, Balin's appeal argues that 75 percent of project traffic would use Columbia, resulting in "potential gridlock."

Barron Park resident Bob Moss injected a new concern. He said no testing has been done for trichloroethylene, a cancer-causing chemical present in groundwater in that part of Palo Alto.

"I think it's important that you address the potential hazardous materials on the site," he told the City Council. "If you don't know you've got it, you don't know how to mitigate it."

The development is a product of the 2005 Mayfield Development Agreement, which gave Stanford University vested rights to build 250 housing units in the Stanford Research Park in exchange for providing playing fields at the intersection of Page Mill Road and El Camino Real.